Matrix-board



(No Model.)

C. M. GAGE. MATRIX BOARD. No. 465,847. Patented Dec. 29, 1891.

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UNITED STATES CHARLES M. GAGE, OF PEPPERELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MATRIX-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,843, dated December 29, 1891.

Application filed July 5, 1888.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. GAGE, of Pepperell, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Matrix-Boards, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a novel matrix-board. especially applicable forstereotyping, electrotyping, the.

In accordance with my invention my improved matriX-board is made of sheets of paper composed of vegetable fiber, preferably two or more of the said sheets of paper being treated, as will be described, whereby the elasticity of the fiber is destroyed, and having a waxy surface, so that when an impression is made on the paper-as for instance, by a type-the impression is well defined and formed substantially perfect, the saidimpression, owing to the non-elasticity of the matrixboard, being preserved for a substantially indefinite period of time.

The drawing represents in section, on an enlarged scale, a matrix card-board embodying my invention.

In order that my invention may be readily comprehended, I will hereinafter enumerate the method preferred by me for making my improved matrix-board, which for purposes of convenience may be supposed to be com-- posed of three distinct parts-viz., first, a back; second, a body composed of prepared paper, and, lastly, a finishing-sheet having a waxy surface.

The back of my improved board is substantially hard and is preferably made of three or more sheets a of paper pasted together and which may be hard calendered paper, such as known to the trade as book-paper, or which may be paper made from wood fiber, rags, or a mixture of both, the said paper being free from knots or hard pieces. The back as thus prepared has pasted to it preferably two or more layers or sheets I) of paper to form the body, the said sheets being made for the best results from linen and cotton rags, but which may be made from any vegetable stock having a long fiber. These sheets, before being pasted to the back, are treated, preferably, with a solution composed of shellac, borax,

Serial No. 279,099- (N'o model.)

and water compounded for the best results in the following proportions, viz: Six pounds of shellac, three pounds of borax, and sixteen quarts of water. The solution thus prepared is boiled until the shellac is thoroughly out, which takes usually from two to three hours. The sheets of paper to be treated are dipped into the solution and thoroughly driedin any well-known or usual manner. ,The matrixboard will then preferably have applied to it a finishing-sheet of paper made of a strong long vegetable fiber. The finishing-sheet b is pasted onto the prepared sheets and will have applied to it a coating of parafiine, or wax, or other analogous substance.

The matrix-board thus prepared is especially designed for electrotyping, stereotyping, &c., the impression imparted to the surface of the board, as by a type, being well defined, and owing to the elasticity of the fibers of the chemically-prepared paper being destroyed by the solution the impressions made in the said matrix-board are substantially uniform and are type-high, as it is technically known-that is, the depth of each impression is such as to produce the desired or proper height of type in the stereotype or electrotype, and owing to the non-elasticity of the prepared paper this uniformity of depth is maintained for substantially an indefinite period of time, so that a matrix-board from which a stereotype or electrotype has been once taken may be used again, even after a very considerable lapse of time.

It is evident other well-known substances may be used instead of boraX to cut the shel lacas, for instance, alcohol.

I prefer to make the matrix-board of three parts, as specified; but in some instances the finishingsheet may be omitted and the impression made directly upon the prepared paper, the latter being covered with a coating of paiaffine, wax, &O.

I prefer to make the back of the matrixboard of paper composed of vegetable; but, if desired, the said back may be made of paper composed of animal fiber or a mixture of ani mal and vegetable fiber, or the said back may be of other material-as, for instance, papiermach, wood, leather, 810.; but in all cases the prepared sheets of paper will be of vegetable fiber.

The essential feature of the invention is shellacked to render it inelastic, and a waxed rhe body d, deadened or renderedinelastic so finishing-sheet, substantially as described. as to preserve the impression intact. In testimony whereof I have signed my I claim' name to this specification in the presence of 5 1. A matrix-board comprising a back of two subscribing" witnesses.

hard paper, a body of softer paper which is rendered inelastic by a solution of shellac, CHARLES M. GAGE. and a waxy surface,substantiallyas described. \Vitnesses:

2. A matrix-board consisting of a back of G. XV. GREGORY,

IO hard paper, a body of softer paper which is J AS. I1. CHURCHILL. 

